Abstract
Abnormal motivation and hedonic assessment of aversive stimuli are symptoms of anxiety and depression. Symptoms influenced by motivation and anhedonia predict treatment success or resistance. Therefore, a translational approach to the study of negatively motivated behaviors is needed. We describe a novel use of behavioral economics demand curve analysis to investigate negative reinforcement in animals that separates hedonic assessment of footshock termination (i.e., relief) from motivation to escape footshock. In outbred Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, relief increased as shock intensity increased. Likewise, motivation to escape footshock increased as shock intensity increased. To demonstrate the applicability to anxiety disorders, hedonic and motivational components of negative reinforcement were investigated in anxiety vulnerable Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats. WKY rats demonstrated increased motivation for shock cessation with no difference in relief as compared to control SD rats, consistent with a negative bias for motivation in anxiety vulnerability. Moreover, motivation was positively correlated with relief in SD, but not in WKY. This study is the first to assess the hedonic and motivational components of negative reinforcement using behavioral economic analysis. This procedure can be used to investigate positive and negative reinforcement in humans and animals to gain a better understanding of the importance of motivated behavior in stress-related disorders.
Highlights
Abnormal motivation is associated with a number of psychiatric disorders (Robinson and Berridge, 1993; Mogg and Bradley, 1998; Berridge, 2009; Giesen et al, 2010; Treadway and Zald, 2011; Schlosser et al, 2014)
Exponential Demand Equation Analysis Our novel procedure was initially tested in outbred Sprague Dawley (SD) rats to assess whether behavior economic parameters were sensitive to shock intensity
We describe a novel procedure to characterize the hedonic and motivational components of negative reinforcement using behavioral economics
Summary
Abnormal motivation is associated with a number of psychiatric disorders (Robinson and Berridge, 1993; Mogg and Bradley, 1998; Berridge, 2009; Giesen et al, 2010; Treadway and Zald, 2011; Schlosser et al, 2014). Individuals with anxiety disorders demonstrate enhanced motivation to avoid or escape aversive stimuli (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Depression is associated with impaired appreciation for reinforcement (“consummatory anhedonia”) and reduced motivation (“motivational anhedonia”) (Treadway and Zald, 2011). The presence of avoidance behavior is predictive of poor treatment outcomes (Foa et al, 2006; O’Donnell et al, 2007). The presence of impaired motivation in depressed patients is associated with poor treatment outcomes (Spijker et al, 2001) and is typically unaffected by first-line antidepressant treatment (Shelton and Tomarken, 2001). The ability to assess motivated behaviors in individuals with anxiety and depression, and to investigate motivation in pre-clinical animal models will advance the understanding of these disorders
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